


what do you want?

by howtofailatlife101



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: M/M, University AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-19 00:21:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8181602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/howtofailatlife101/pseuds/howtofailatlife101
Summary: Chaol had never spoken to Aedion before. Not before he’d found the blonde naked and drunk in his room, anyway.





	

Chaol smiled at the customer, handed her her to-go espresso and waited. Waited until she’d turned away before he wiped the fake smile off his face and turned to scribble more words on his notepad as he said, “Next”. Gods, he hoped he finished this essay before his class this afternoon.

He heard the footsteps of his next customer and pushed a smile back on his face, “Welcome to Cassie’s Cafe, what would you like-” only for it to fall into a scowl as he came to look (or glare, whichever you preferred) at the blue eyes and blonde hair and wolfish smile that towered over him.

Aedion only laughed at his reaction, “I haven’t even done anything yet.” he said, to which Chaol rolled his eyes because that was exactly it; he hadn’t done anything _yet_.

Deciding not to bother with being polite, Chaol turned back to his disaster of an essay and crossed out the last sentence he wrote. “What do you want?” he snapped, scribbling something else and finding that it didn’t sound right either.

“Why can’t you talk to me like you talked to that last customer?” Aedion whined and even though Chaol wasn’t looking at his face he could hear the smile in his voice.

“What do you want?” he repeated and listened to Aedion huff in disappointment. Good, Chaol wasn’t here to entertain hi-

“You.”

Chaol cursed as he scratched a long and obtrusive line across his page as if he’d been jogged. His ears were burning and his cheeks red as he glared at Aedion. “Stop that.”

And perhaps, just to irk him even more, Aedion smirked in response.

How it worked; it made Chaol want to climb over the counter and throttle him. Aedion relished in that anger, grinning as if he’d won the world. Until Chaol grabbed him by the shirt, drawing him in so close that he could feel his breath against his face. It wiped the smirk clean of Aedion’s face as his eyes traced the outline of Chaol’s lips. “Listen, you little shit,” Chaol hissed but Aedion was too busy thinking about how close they were to think about being offended, “I told you to _leave me alone_ and I swear to god if you-”

“You’re really hot when you’re mad.” Aedion whispered. He smirked because if Chaol’s cheeks were red before they were aflame now and  Aedion ignored the counter that dug into his stomach as he pressed himself closer, _closer_ …

And then…

“ _Chaol!_ ” Dorian exclaimed, waltzing out of the ‘employees only’ room and ripping Chaol away from him. “What did I say about harassing customers?” Dorian asked like a mother scolding their child, to which Chaol swatted his hand away and snuck a glare at Aedion as he crossed his arms.

“That I shouldn’t do it.” he grumbled reluctantly and Aedion found it hilarious how subdued the brunet had suddenly become.

Dorian nodded his head and spun Chaol around to face Aedion. “Apologise.”

“ _What?_ ” Chaol spat, glaring at Aedion as if this was all his fault.

“I said apologise.”

Aedion waited expectantly, watching Chaol grit his teeth and look anywhere but Aedion. How he loved it when Chaol was flustered. “Well?” he hummed, raising a brow in anticipation.

“I’m sorry for harassing you.” Chaol said from between his teeth as if it was painful. It lit up Aedion’s face and Chaol wasn’t sure if he wanted to kill himself, Dorian or this blonde oaf.

And then, Aedion shrugged his shoulders before saying “Meh, I didn’t feel harassed anyway. See you around.” he winked and skipped out of the shop.

Chaol’s anger was sizzling.

*

Chaol Westfall was a straight A student. He handed his assignments in on time (mostly) and never missed a lecture. He even asked questions. He participated in extracurricular activities, for example he tutored struggling classmates. He was an all around _perfect_ student.

Aedion Ashryver was a straight A student, but that didn't mean he ever handed his assignments in on time and Chaol didn’t think his professors even knew he was in their lectures. He participated in unofficial extracurricular activities that included sex, partying and throwing up after drinking too much. He was an all around bad student.

They spun on different axis. So why, for heaven’s sake, did Aedion suddenly have this annoying interest in him?

Chaol had never spoken to Aedion before. Not before he’d found the blonde naked and drunk in his room, anyway.

_“What the fuck?” Chaol exclaimed trying not to drop the books in his hands because what else was he supposed to do when there was a giant taking off his clothes in his room. “What are you doing?”_

_The blonde turned to look at him, surprised as if he wasn’t stripping in someone else’s room and it didn’t take Chaol long to realise it was Aedion Ashryver. He made the assumption that Aedion was drunk from how he swayed and his eyes were glazed and wandering. “I thought this was my room.”_

_“You thought wrong.” Chaol replied, dumping his books in the corner. He picked up the trail of clothes that Aedion had left behind him and shoved the blonde on his bed. “Go to sleep.” he muttered, throwing the clothes on his desk and running his hands through his hair. He didn’t have time for this._

_He listened to his bed creak as Aedion got comfortable and perhaps it was the sleep deprivation that lead him to do it, but he turned off his lights and then slipped into the bed too before passing out._

_And no matter what kind of decisions Chaol had made, he had not expected to wake up with Aedion_ spooning _him. He squirmed from where he was and thought a blood vessel would burst in face when he came to find a leg (that definitely wasn’t his) wedged between his thighs. How Chaol wanted to scream._

_He shrugged off the arm that was draped over his waist and clambered out of the bed. He glanced at his clock and found that it was almost nine. That meant it was almost time for his economics lecture and he needed to get from here to there in five minutes._

_Turning to look at the blonde that was still slumbering in his bed, Chaol didn’t hesitate to kick him. “Get up and get out.” he said as Aedion grumbled and whined at the assault. Did Chaol care? Not really._

_Grateful for falling asleep in his clothes, Chaol grabbed his bag and his books. “If you’re not out before I get back I’m  complaining to the Dean.” he said before leaving, not forgetting to slam the door behind him._

And while Chaol had pretended to be pissed at the time, he’d nearly combusted into a pile of embarrassed ashes once he’d closed the door. Aedion Ashryver had fallen asleep in _his_ bed.

When he’d come back to his room, he’d found a bag of McDonalds on his desk and a note that said ‘you’re cute when you’re embarrassed.’

From then on, Aedion wouldn’t leave him alone and Chaol couldn’t stop his mind from wandering towards memories of the crude things Aedion had said to him, had whispered in his ears or murmured close enough to his lips that he could have kissed him if he’d wanted.

Gods, if Chaol didn’t stop thinking about it he was going to burn up from the inside out.

He buried his face in his arms and groaned in frustration. The sound startled Dorian, who had been writing notes beside him. Upon recovering from the shock, he observed his friend and started rubbing circles on his back, humming, “There, there.” like he was petting a dog.

*

Really, when Aedion had entered the shop he’d actually planned on buying an iced something, but upon seeing Chaol working a shift he didn’t think he would be able to help himself. He’d just come back from the gym and he was sweaty and tired. The Gods had probably wanted to give him a little reward for his hard work and he’d be damned if he didn’t take the opportunity.

He’d made his way towards the counter, watching Chaol mop the floor from the corner of eye before it had happened.

Some girl had tripped over something (Aedion didn’t know but it looked like the air) and spilled her drink all over Chaol. They’d both watched the coffee seep into his white shirt for moment, staining it brown, before the girl exclaimed, “I am so, so sorry.” She grabbed some napkins near by and started rubbing his shirt uselessly, all the while Chaol could only splutter as if he couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.

Aedion wasn’t sure why, but he’d wanted to tell the girl to take her hands off Chaol. She was only trying to help, but it made something bubble in his stomach, and Aedion had to stuff the urge away.

“Do you have a spare shirt?” Dorian said, touching Chaol’s shirt gingerly to which the brunet swatted his hand away.

“No.” he replied, looking at his drenched clothes in distaste.

“Does anyone have a spare shirt!” Dorian shouted in theatrical urgency. The customers in the room were too busy wondering what was wrong with him to listen to his question. “Anyone!”

And it was at this moment that Aedion thinks that Gods really, really liked him. He looked at his gym bag and then at Dorian and he couldn’t help the grin that bloomed on his face as he said. “I do.”  

What a reward it was for Aedion to see that ruggedly handsome face twist with a look of absolute horror as he pulled the spare shirt out of his bag. “Right here.” he said, tugging the article out of his bag for Dorian to take, multiple ‘thank you’s’ spilling from his mouth, but all Aedion could see was Chaol’s face and the delicious panic dancing in his eyes.

“I don’t need it.” Chaol replied, stepping away from Aedion’s shirt like it was contagious.

Dorian looked at him as if he was sick. “I think you do.” he retorted, pushing his friend towards the ‘employees only’ room before he could protest any more, and Aedion was put out that he hadn’t been invited.

Not that it mattered because less than two minutes later, Chaol was back and he was almost swimming in his shirt. He was fidgeting and grumbling as he tucked the shirt into his trousers in hopes of making it look less big. It didn’t matter, though, because it still looked like it could fit another body inside, and honestly, Aedion wouldn’t mind slipping his hands under there and…

“What are you looking at?” Chaol growled, crossing his hands and glaring at Aedion, who just smiled innocently.

“Is that what you say to the person that just gave you a spare shirt?” Dorian said on his way back to attending to the customers. He gave Chaol a look to which the brunet’s glare intensified.

“Thanks.” Chaol spat, blotches of red decorating his cheeks. It kind of reminded Aedion of the last time he'd been here. “For the shirt.”

Aedion didn’t know what made his mouth go dry, as he said “No problem.” or why he couldn’t find a smart ass reply. It was unusual and it seemed Chaol noticed too because his face scrunched in confusion.

“Uhh, are you o-”

“Bye.” Aedion said, stumbling out of the door like he was running from something. Something sunk in the pit of his stomach, coiling like a snake and it unsettled him. That night, Aedion dragged his friends along to a party and made sure he got so wasted that he couldn’t feel anything, let alone that feeling that bothered him like a buzzing in his ears.

*

“Are you looking for someone?” Dorian asked, watching his friend peek around the corner of the hallway before releasing his breath as if he’d expected a monster to be waiting behind there. “Or hiding from someone..?”

Chaol threw him a confused look, “No, what are you talking about?”

“Is this about Aedion?”

“What? No, no, why would you think- Okay _fine,_ it is about Aedion.” Chaol said, turning to look at Dorian like his world was about to fall apart. “For the past week, there’s been no teasing, no flirting or inappropriate touching--I haven’t even _seen_ Aedion since he lent me his shirt.” he paused to take a breath, “I should be relieved, right? I should be goddamn happy. But I’m just worried. What if something happened to him? Like he got drunk and fell in a ditch? I mean, he gets on my nerves but I don’t- I don’t want him _dead_.”

Dorian nodded and hummed in thought. “Okay, d’you know what you need to do? You need to go and talk to him.” Chaol opened his mouth to say something but Dorian continued, “You haven’t given back his shirt yet, right? Use that as an excuse to see if he’s alright. And trust me, he’s not dead. He’s just avoiding you.” Dorian finished, stalking off because he knew that Chaol was going to complain.  

Chaol snorted, ‘talk’ to Aedion? That was never going to happen, no matter how worried Chaol felt.

*

“It’s open.”

Chaol wasn’t sure what had possessed him to come here, but he’d knocked and there was no going back. He gripped the shirt in his hands harder as he stepped into the room.  “Hi,” he said weakly, smiling but finding that it didn’t sit right on his face. “I have your shirt.”

He walked into the room tentatively, stepping over shirts and books and dumbbells. When he finally saw Aedion, sitting on his bed and shrouded in darkness like this was some movie, he wondered if he should have come. There the blonde was, sitting on his bed and almost as exposed as the first time Chaol had met him. He struggled to remove his gaze from Aedion’s tanned chest and when he found Aedion’s gaze--cold and blank--he’d felt his face heat up because he’d been caught staring, hadn’t he?

God, Aedion hadn’t even said anything and he was already burning up. “You can just put it somewhere.” Aedion said, turning back to the textbooks sprawled out across his bed. Chaol didn’t know if he should be relieved that Aedion spared him the teasing, or worried because why had he spared him the teasing?

“What?”

“You can just put it-”

“I heard what you said!” Chaol snapped, “I mean what about the teasing? The snarky remarks? The just generally being annoying?”

Aedion looked at him and had the audacity to look irritated. “It obviously made you uncomfortable-”

Chaol couldn’t help but raise his voice. What had changed? “And since _when_ did you care about whether I was uncomfortable or not?”

“Since today! Okay! Since that time at the cafe! Since you let me stay in your dorm instead of kicking me out!” Aedion snapped back. His voice boomed in the room like thunder.

Chaol spoke quietly, but his anger reverberated through the silence. “Are you being serious?”

“Completely.” Aedion said, turning back to his work as if they weren’t in the middle of a conversation. As if Chaol wasn’t even there and it was here that it hit him.

“So you finally got tired, huh?” Chaol said, swallowing the painful lump in his throat. “Finally got bored? Ready to just throw me away like you do everyone else when they get too bland? What, were my reactions too predictable? Not exciting enough for you?” he hissed. He threw the shirt at Aedion and hated how he didn’t even seem bothered by it.

“Get out.”

“I refuse.”

Aedion glared at him with such disgust in his eyes that Chaol’s courage nearly dissipated to nothing. “I said get out.”

“I said I refuse.”

Chaol’s courage finally died like a flame when Aedion slipped off his bed and began prowling towards him. He nearly tripped over a stack of books as he stumbled backwards feeling like prey cornered by a predator--and he’d walked right into the wolf’s den. Chaol thought he might vomit his heart out when his back hit a wall and Aedion was _still advancing._

Two hands smacked the wall on either side of Chaol’s head and it made him flinch. He stifled the urge to squeeze his eyes shut and instead grabbed Aedion’s wrists and glared; he refused to give into the intimidation.

“What do you want?” Aedion grumbled. Chaol bit his lip to stop from spilling all his thoughts and watched Aedion’s eyes follow the action. He ran his tongue over his bottom lip just to see what would happen and enjoyed the way Aedion’s eyes followed this action too. It made him smile and upon seeing his lips curl in amusement, Aedion’s gaze snapped back up to Chaol’s. “Stop that.”

And perhaps just to irk him more, Chaol bit his bottom lip again to which Aedion snarled quietly. “I refuse.”

Aedion growled and pressed himself closer to Chaol, who only squeezed his wrists harder. “What do you want, huh? You want me to whisper filthy things to you?” he pressed his mouth to Chaol’s ear. “Want me to tell you all the nasty things I could do to you.” he whispered, nudging Chaol’s legs apart with his knee. Aedion laughed under his breath as he felt Chaol panting like he’d just resurfaced water.

Said brunet hoped that Aedion couldn’t feel his heart trembling from where it sat in his chest, couldn’t hear his thundering heartbeat. He really should have left when he’d first been told to, because here he was with his hands slack against Aedion’s wrists--barely holding on--and he could feel his legs ready to give out at any second. And gods, he had a… problem.

He could feel Aedion smirk against his ear as he pressed his leg against- against… it, the problem and Chaol didn’t know if he could hold back the sounds that were ready to spill from between his lips. He was biting his lip so hard he thought it might bleed. “Chaol, you need to tell me what you want.” he said, nipping Chaol’s earlobe. “Is this what you want?” he said, and brutally ground his leg against Chaol’s- Chaol’s _problem._

He gripped Aedion’s arms like they were lifelines; he was gasping, panting, for air as he tried not to slip to the floor. Look at the mess he was and Aedion hadn’t put his hands on him. Aedion snorted, “You’re such a virgin.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being a virgin.” he replied between his teeth.

“Is this what you want from me, Chaol?” Aedion asked innocently despite brining his face close enough that their noses brushed. 

“I wanted to talk.”

That seemed to amuse Aedion who ground himself against Chaol again and loved the way it completely undid the brunet. He brushed his lips against Chaol’s, “I don’t.” he murmured, pressing his lips to Chaol’s jaw, then his neck and-

-Aedion stumbled back as Chaol jabbed him in the stomach. It didn’t hurt as much as it startled him but there was distance between them now. Aedion watched Chaol slide to the floor and swallowed whatever it was that was lodged painfully in his throat as the brunet pushed his head between his knees.

“I wanted to talk.” Chaol repeated like he was trying to remind himself of that.

“Yeah?” Aedion said, running a hand through his hair.

“Why- where have you been? You don’t come by the cafe anymore. And I don’t see you in the hallways on campus. We live in the same dorm block but I haven’t seen you for the past week and I don’t want to get ahead of myself and think that your absence is because of me, but why are you avoiding me?” And Chaol didn’t mean to start crying, didn’t mean to start spouting all this emotional shit, but it came out like a dam had broken in him. “I’m not even supposed to care. I’m supposed to be happy that you’re finally leaving me alone, but I just… I don’t know, I just don’t want you to keep avoiding me.”

Chaol hugged his knees closer. Couldn’t Aedion hurry up and say something?

“Chaol,” Aedion said, his voice was hoarse as if he was the one who was crying. “I, um. Look,” he stuttered, not sure where he was going. “Do you remember when we first met? I was drunk and practically naked in your room.”

“You’re always practically naked.” Chaol mumbled into his knees.

Aedion laughed, “Yeah well that was probably the first time, in a long time, that someone wasn’t trying to sleep with me or flirt with me. You were just so cold and I missed being the one that chased people, usually they chase me and--” here Aedion sighed. “And you know that saying that people always want what they can’t have? Well, I thought I was only enjoying the chase. And then, I don’t know,  I realised that…” Aedion tried to swallow the frog in his throat.

“You realised that..?”

“I realised that I enjoyed _you_ . That I wanted _you_ and then I didn’t know what to do. I knew I couldn't have you like that. So I just ran.” Aedion said, crouching down beside Chaol.

“What?”

“Come on, Chaol, don’t make me say it so explicitly.”

“Say it.”

Aedion groaned and violently used his hands to scrub his face. “I like you.”

“Really?”

There was amusement hiding in Chaol’s voice and it made Aedion growl as he got off the floor. “Yes, really? Why is this so funny to you?”

“I don’t know, I just… It’s like you're still in preschool, you know? Being mean to your crush and all.” Chaol said as Aedion pulled him off the floor too.

“Preschoolers don’t say or do any of things I did.” Aedion scoffed. He pushed Chaol against the wall and kissed any smart ass remarks away. “They definitely don’t do this.” he murmured to which Chaol could only reply with a satisfied hum.

“I guess,” Chaol panted between kisses, “I like you too.”

“You guess?” Aedion asked as he peppered kisses down Chaol’s neck. He didn’t receive a response and laughed as Chaol wrapped his arms around Aedion’s neck instead. “Do you know what would look really good on you?” he asked, nibbling Chaol’s ear.

“What does this have to do with anything?” the brunet all but whined.

“I just thought you looked really good in my shirts is all.” Aedion murmured as he pressed more kisses to Chaol’s lips.

“Yeah, wearing a sign that says ‘this is way too big for me’.” Chaol replied.

“No, obviously wearing nothing else.”

When Chaol jabbed him in the stomach this time, he couldn’t say that it didn’t hurt, but Aedion was too busy enjoying the stuttering mess that Chaol became to care.


End file.
